Once Upon a Time
by Silver Phantom13
Summary: Prince Sora's frown deepened and his eyes seemed to turn a darker shade of blue at the title. Immediately the page recognized his mistake and kneeled lower. "Votre majeste'." he corrected himself for although Sora was a prince, this was his castle.
1. Prologue

Characters belong to Disney and Square Enix

I swear this story is not in French! Only some conversations will be in French! Translations at bottom of page.

For TheAnnoyingVoice because she is awsome. :)

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><p>The silver goblet seemed to shimmer a sunrise sort of color as the red wine inside slipped between the prince's lips. He sat behind an enormous table and the cracking of fire from the fireplace and the clang as he put down his goblet where the only sounds in his private chamber. A new sound, the opening of the large doors to his room, followed by the soft footsteps of his royal page, made the prince frown. The page dropped on one knee, advanced, dropped a second knee and then a third as it was required to present one's self to the Prince.<p>

"Prince Sora." he spoke softly, eyes lowered in respect. Prince Sora's frown deepened and his eyes seemed to turn a darker shade of blue at the title. Immediately the page recognized his mistake and kneeled lower. "Votre majeste'." he corrected himself for although Sora was a prince, this was his castle and so that made him king of the castle as well. The page still knelt and prince Sora looked him over without interest then sighed.

"Quelles nouvelles avez-vous pour moi?" he spoke in his native French language and each word was deep and thick with omnipotence.

"Une vieille femme demanda de rester la nuit pour mettre a' l'abri du froid glacial." he said voice cracking and not looking up to meet the prince's scowl.

"Peut-e'tre qu'elle est aveugle si elle fautes mon cha'teau pour certains charite'." The king said standing up from his seat and taking the goblet with him to look out his window down towards the bridge that led in and out of the castle. "Away with her. Throw her in the tower if you must. She may take shelter there till she dies." he said in his English voice and swirled the wine around in the goblet before taking another drink.

"I gladly would but the guards that tried to push her away are now terrified to go near her. The men think she's a witch."

"Oh they do, do they?"

"Yes your majesty." The goblet flew past the page's head and clattered to the floor. Red wine splashed everywhere and the page scarcely blinked even as the king walked past him ordering nearby guards to take him up to the tower and behead him.

Outside, snow covered the castle grounds and made strange shapes in the howling wind as prince Sora walked through the snow leading a few of his guards. Their steps made crunching noises in the snow and the wind was starting to pick up signaling a blizzard was coming.

"Why was she allowed to cross the bridge? Who was on bridge duty?"

"It was…um, well…" one of them stuttered and Sora looked behind his shoulder at him and the guard pointed at another guard. "It was him!"

"No your majesty! It was not I! It was him!"

"He lies your majesty! It was him indeed!" they continued to argue and right after the first guard said his last word, the prince had already unsheathed his sword and made a quick cut across the man's throat. The others moved away from the gasping man and did nothing to help as he started to go down; blood pooling on the snow. The prince just wiped his blade on his long blue cape and continued to head towards the bridge. Two guards opened the heavy wooden doors for him that led to the bridge and he made a scornful look at the beggar.

He didn't know why his guards feared this woman so. She was almost at death's door and yet they cowered at her presence!

"S'il vous plait. Je vous ne supplie, laissez-cette vielille femme une nuit dans votre cha'teau." She said in a raspy voice and was hunched over supporting her weight on an old cane. She slipped a long boney hand into her black raged robe and pulled out a beautiful red rose. "Je n'ai rien a vous donner, mais cette rose." Her dark blue eyes stared into the prince's eyes and she held out the rose but he sneered and slapped her hand away so the rose fell to the snow.

"Conge's! Je ne fais pas des actes de charite'!" The beggar looked down at the rose starting to disappear under the snow and asked again coughing and the prince backed away in disgust. "I have no room for your kind so be gone!" He turned his back on her slipping between the doors again when she grasped a hand to his blood stained cape.

"Do not be deceived by appearances. For true beauty lies within." she whispered and he pulled her hand off and turned around to push her away but his guards beat him to it and dragged her off harshly. As the prince started to head back inside he heard some of his men gasp and saw a flash of green light behind him so that when he looked back, he saw his men scurrying off and where the beggar had once been there was now a beautiful women with long fair hair wearing an elegant lime colored dress floating in midair.

"An enchantress!" the foolish prince gasped and dropped to his knees and begged for forgiveness.

"It is too late. I have seen there is no love in your heart." She said shaking her head gently and a wand appeared in her hand.

"Please! I'll give you whatever you want! I made a mistake!"

"A mistake you'll repent with punishment." A beam of light shone out of the wand and hit the prince so that he hugged himself and screamed as his clothes ripped when he grew in size. His tan skin got extremely furry, the color of chestnut, and his back arched up while his hands and feet became heavy paws with sharp claws. The gold crown upon his head fell as black curled horns grew out of the sides of his head and his scream changed into a roar as the transformation continued. "Now you are a beast." She said as he awkwardly stood and roared at her angry.

"Change me back!" His voice was more of a growl then words and he bared his new fangs at her.

"Until you learn to love another and be loved in return." She looked at the guards far away and shook her wand at them so they changed into suits of armor. "The people that live in the castle will share the same fate." Finally she waved her wand one last time at the castle and the castle got darker, the cherub statues throughout the court yard of the castle turned to gargoyles, and plants withered or turned into thorns. "That rose that you refused" she pointed with her wand were it lay half hidden by snow, "is enchanted. It shall bloom until your twenty first year. Before the last petal falls you must learn to love." She started to disappear so that the snow fell through her and said last, "If not you'll remain a beast for all time."

"Wait!" the prince pleaded and ran forward to stop her but she was already gone. He looked around and called out to her but she did not return. He held a paw out over his eyes as the snow swirled around him then frantically searched for the rose but careful at the same time so he wouldn't damage it by accident. It glowed slightly red when he found it and picked it up and brushed off the snow. Holding it carefully between his two paws, he ran inside his castle and ignored the snowflakes that got caught in his lashes. Inside cooks were changed into pots, pans, forks, plates, cups, spoons, and knifes. Servants were changed into brooms, mops, coat hangers, and buckets. He passed them all and ran up to the west wing to his own bed chamber and flung away any furniture in his way. He used a glass top from his tray of sweets to cover the rose and set it on a table once the table had been cleared.

Now he took the time to really look at himself and ripped off what was left of his clothes and tied a new red cape around his neck and struggled to put on a pair of trousers. Once he didn't look so much like an animal he gazed at himself in his enchanted mirror and touched his large snout and horns. They looked horrible and made him seem even more terrifying then he already was so he roared and slashed at the walls peeling the paper off and threw chairs, and vases across the room till it was havoc.

"S'il vous plait! Control your temper!"

His eyes narrowed down at a little clock and it backed away.

"I will calm down when I wish to! Leave my room Saix!" Saix was his Head Steward and right now he ticked nervously as his master attacked a painted portrait of himself. A black candle holder with red candles came in the room that was the castel's maitre d', Axel, and the prince ignored him as well.

"This is what we'll do Majeste' chers, find you a wife." Saix said and Axel stood by his side nodding.

"Has your Majeste' a candidate in mind?" Axel asked then ran with Saix when the prince snarled at them and tried to claw them.

"How stupid can you two get? Look at me! I'm a beast! I can't get a girl looking like this!" He turned his back to them and stayed quiet so that Saix and Axel saw it as a sign to leave. If they had strained their ears, they would have heard the beast say barely above a whisper, "For who could ever love a beast?"

The blizzard came and stayed so that the castle was hidden and forgotten over time with all it's residents and it's prince.

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><p>Votre majeste'Your majesty

Quelles nouvelles avez-vous pour moi/What news do you have for me?

Peut-e'tre qu'elle est aveugle si elle fautes mon cha'teau pour certains charite'/Perhaps she is blind if she mistakes my castle for some charity

Une vieille mendiant demanda de rester la nuit pour mettre a' l'abri du froid glacial/ An old beggar woman asks to stay the night to take shelter from the bitter cold

S'il vous plait. Je vous ne supplie, laissez-cette vielille femme une nuit dans votre cha'teau/Please. I beg you, allow this old woman a night in your castle

Je n'ai rien a vous donner, mais cette rose/I have naught to give but this rose

Majeste' chers/ Dear majesty

Conge's. Je ne fais pas des actes de charite'/Leave. I do not do acts of charity


	2. Burning Love

Thanks to blackirishawk for giving me ideas for this chapter!

To whoever reads this: You have _no_ idea how much information I looked up on France and the story behind _Beauty And The Beast._

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><p><em>Chambery, France<em>

_September 1740_

Chickens scratched at the ground for food and clucked at each other while a group of sparrows flew overhead and one flew down from the flock towards a small cottage. The cottage wasn't even that big or in great condition but many children lived inside it with a few hardy adults that watched over them. It stood on a hill overlooking the town and it also had its own water mill so the children could always have a clean pair of clothes. Right next to the entrance of this cottage was a sack of corn and the sparrow that had flown down poked its beak in the gold bounty.

The door suddenly flung open with enough force to shake the place and smacked against the bird before it even knew what was happening and fell to the ground injured. The young man that had opened the door frowned when he heard something soft hit the floor and stepped out and closed the door a bit so he could see the sparrow flapping a wing while the other bend at an irregular angle.

"Je vous ai dit de fixer la porte se je n'aurais pas a' le pousser si fort!" he screamed back in the house so that a guy with a scar above his right eye and another on his left cheek came out from one of the rooms and glared at him.

"De'pechez-vous et acheter ma bie're avant que je vous expulser d'ici! Brat ingrat!" the man shouted back then shook his fist at some of the children that poked their small heads out of their rooms to see what was going on.

"I'm going gosh!" He bend down and gently picked up the bird with his apron and it struggled in his grasp. The chickens knew better than to come to the door and eat the corn or else they might end up like the sparrow in his hands so they waited till someone usually came out to feed them. The chickens hurried out of his way as he went to the back of the house and stood on the edge of the hill turned away from the town. This side of the hill showed the wilderness but it didn't look beautiful, in fact, it looked down right creepy.

"I'm sorry. If we didn't have a cheap Headmaster you wouldn't have gotten hurt." He narrowed his blue eyes at the small creature and pulled on the sparrow's hurt wing stretching it out while it thrashed in his hand. "Don't judge things by how they seem. Just because this town looks nice doesn't mean it's safer than these woods." It chirped when the wing was set back in place and flexed both of its wings testing them out. He smiled and then looked at the sky when a light breeze swayed his dress and the sparrow flapped more in his hands. "Alright off you go then!" He threw the bird forward so it could fly on the next breeze and frowned as it went down instead of up. It spiraled down towards the forest and he watched it fall till the forest swallowed it up. He stood there for a few minutes then sighed. "Figures."

"Roxas! Are you going into the village to get us another book?" a small girl said watching Roxas from her window and Roxas turned around smiling at her.

"Yes Charlene. Do you want me to get another book about a prince and princess?" He moved closer to her window and she gushed at him.

"Yeah! Read it to us every night before we go to bed okay?" Roxas pet her head and she giggled as he agreed to this.

"But you have to do everything Eraqus says and try not to get him angry okay?"

"Okay.." She shut her window and Roxas went to the side of the house to get the basket they usually used to collect the chicken eggs. Another window opened and this time it was two boys and a girl.

"Take us with you Roxas! We want to go to town too!" they all said stretching their hands out so that Roxas would pull them out but Roxas only half smiled at them.

"I'm not going for fun and besides, town isn't somewhere safe for little children to be walking around in." He ruffled the boys hair's except for the girls ,giving it a pet instead, and pointed at the older of the two boys. "Quincey, your the oldest so you're the man of the house while I'm gone. Antonie, you help Quincey take care of Rosemarie and the other children okay?" Quincey and Antonie nodded and went back in the house with Rosemarie so that Roxas could be on his way.

The dirt path he followed down to town was muddy so he walked on the grass instead to avoid dirtying his dress and boots. It was still early in the morning but already the whole town was awake and going through their day as usual. Some told him "bonjour" but others like the man that always passed through the town with his flock of sheep glared at Roxas so that Roxas glared back till the guy was out of eyesight. Well it was Roxas fault that the man glared at him since he did steal some of his sheep but what was he supposed to do for fun around here if there was nothing better to do? The town looked beautiful with all its bakery shops, dress shops, and hat stores and you would think it smelled like freshly baked bread or smell of pine from the nearby forest but it didn't. Instead, it smelled like horse dung all around and Roxas covered his nose and walked a fairly good distance form it whenever he saw one. "Blasted rich snobs." Only the rich could afford to buy horses and they used them to travel everywhere even if they just had to go to two stores down!

"Bonjour Roxas! In town again to check out a book for the orphans?" a man in dark clothes said to him as he was opening his store.

"Actually, I came for booze but I promised Charlene I'd get her another fairy tale." Roxas said heading quickly across the street to the bookshop where Zexion waited for him. A horse whined at him when he was almost there and Roxas had to step back quickly as the horse and its driver passed by. "Je marche ici!" he shouted angry at the driver.

"Descendre dans la rue putain!" the guy said giving him the finger then snapped on the reins as a cobblestone smashed through one of the windows of the carriage he drove.

"Roxas watch it! You don't want to get in trouble with the police again do you?" Zexion said running on the street to him and pulled him towards the shop as Roxas still fumed over the incident. "You don't want to leave the orphans alone with that man do you?"

Roxas calmed down some and sighed so that Zexion let go. "Yeah you're right." He quickly picked up another cobblestone from the weather beaten street and moved his arm back to throw it at the driver again. "I can still hit him if I concentrate though!"

"Roxas!" Zexion dragged him over to the book shop and murmured to himself, "Quand allez-vous apprendre?"

"Quand je sortirai de cette ville sale." Zexion opened the door for Roxas and Roxas blushed as he went in first. "I'm not a lady damn it! Stop treating me like one!" The small bell on the top of the door jingled as Zexion came behind him and smiled.

"You went through it though."

As Roxas walked in the bookstore he took in all of the scents including leather, paper, wood and the scent of Zexion since he ran the place. The place wasn't that organized since books were scattered around the place in piles and there was dust all around. Roxas took it upon himself to pick up the books and dust them off with his apron and put them in their place based on genre and the author's last name.

"I wish I could live here."

"Surrounded by books?" Zexion said helping Roxas put some of the books away when he handed them to him.

"Yup!" Roxas climbed up a ladder and slid the thing over to the thick books so that he could run his feminine fingers on the books spines trying to find the place for one of the books he had on a step. Zexion went behind the front desk and opened a drawer looking for a particular book. The cover of the book he took out had a monster offering his paw to a princess as she sat on the grass afraid of him and it was titled Belle Et La Be'te.

"You want to take this one?" Roxas looked back at him and then at the book and Zexion took out his reading glasses from his coat pocket and put them on. He flipped the book open and read from the first page, "Once upon a time in a faraway land, a young prince lived in a shining castle. Although he had everything his heart desired, the prince was spoiled, selfish, and unkind."

"That one!" Roxas said getting off the ladder and taking the book from Zexion. His love for books came from his love for the orphans since he read to them all the time. They weren't that old to read by themselves so he was their teacher and also taught them history, science, and math out of any books he could find with that information. Hearing fairy tales was one of the few things the kids could enjoy in that horrible dump. "Merci Zexion!" He hugged the slightly-taller-than-him man and paid him two franc pieces while he put the book in his basket.

"Votre accueil. A la prochaine-" the store bell chimed as Roxas walked out and Zexion sighed but then smiled. "-le temps."

Roxas bundled up his light brown dress when he passed over mud and his worn out boots made loud click noises as he walked back home on the stone road. The baker gave him free bread when he passed by as well as the wine maker, clock maker, and even the milk boy although each one gave him different things. Well that took care of the beer though Eraqus wanted beer not wine. He wouldn't care as long as he had something to drink and Roxas thanked them all.

Why did Roxas dress like this? Because his guardian, Eraqus, was deranged and at first tried to get him to prostitute for money. When that didn't work out, he still made him dress as a girl to get free goods from town, like beer, from men who wanted to get under his dress. But the main reason had to be that if Roxas didn't dress as a girl and let Eraqus get his pleasure from him, he would get it from the children. He was still an orphan himself even though he was nineteen and supposedly from what Eraquas and the other care takers at the place told him, he was abandoned at the front door of the orphanage around the start of war between North and South France. Currently, Roxas was living in the South under King Vanitas's rule.

"Salut dames." he greeted the three whores, Rikku, Yuna, and Paine; showing off his basket of gifts just to make them jealous that he could make the men swoon over him when they couldn't even though he was a man. They glared at him as he passed by smirking then they swooned when they saw _him._ Roxas picked up the pace not wanting to meet with the guy but eventually glared at him when he stood in his path. "You're in my way Riku."

"Pense'es charnelles viennent a' mon esprit quand je vois ton beau visage." Riku said giving him a seductive smile than took his free hand to place a kiss on it. Roxas felt his skin prickle up like the cats do when they get into fights and he pulled his hand away wiping it on the side of his dress. Riku had long flowing silver hair that he sometimes braided and eyes the color of aquamarine. Roxas could see why any girl would want him but Roxas was a man so he was attracted to him. Riku's almost princely charm had no effect on him; in fact it irritated him.

"Excusez-moi." He said trying to get past him but Riku trapped him between the side of a café's wall and his well-toned body.

"Roxas why won't you marry me? You could live so much better with me than with those children. I would give you everything you wanted and spoil you to the core." While Riku said this one of his hands played with the white flower he had around his neck as part of his collar necklace and he also leaned his face closer to his. Riku's face lashed back after Roxas slapped him across the face and hurried home practically running. Riku shook his head and touched the stinging parts of his face as he watched Roxas run off with a scowl.

Roxas made it halfway home when he stopped and dropped the basket so that the bread and wine went to waste when the bottle shattered. The book fell in mud too but Roxas didn't care about any of that. He felt his heart clench when his home, the orphanage, was engulfed in flames creating horrible dark clouds in the sky from the smoke that rose from the place. No one was running out. The orphans weren't running out even as the place collapsed.

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><p>Je vous ai dit de fixer la porte se je n'aurais pas a' le pousser si fortI told you to fix the door so I wouldn't have to push it so hard

De'pechez-vous et acheter ma bie're avant que je vous expulser d'ici! Brat ingrat/Hurry and buy my beer before I kick you out of here! Ungrateful brat

Bonjour/Good morning (Who doesn't know this?)

Je marche ici/I'm walking here

Descendre dans la rue putain/Get off the streets you whore

Quand allez-vous apprendre/when will you learn

Quand je sortirai de cette ville sale/When I get out of this filthy town

Belle Et La Be'te/Beauty And The Beast

Merci/Thank you

Votre accueil. A la prochaine/Your welcome. See you next

le temps/Time

Salut dames/ Hi ladies

Pense'es charnelles viennent a' mon esprit quand je vois ton beau visage/Carnal thoughts always come to mind when I see your lovely face

Excusez-moi/ Excuse me (And this one too.)


	3. To The North

_October 1740_

Roxas leaned against a cold brick wall of some shoe store and was oblivious to the town's residents as they passed by selling whatever goods they had or were trying to buy. He was practically dressed in rags and he'd lost a good deal of weight when he'd never had that much weight to start off with. A shadow covered his view as he stared at the floor at nothing and looked up at some tall man eyeing him with a lustful look.

"Say babe, how about you come over to my place where I'll treat you nice?" He leaned in closer to Roxas and twirled a lock of his hair around his finger. A large ring bearing the crest of a lion with a sword in its mouth adorned his finger and Roxas's only thought was that man was looking for some cheap fuck behind his wife's back. This was so common with the noble men. They never married out of love, but for status and money and so they looked for women on the streets to get their sick pleasure from. The gentleman was already kissing up his neck when Roxas snapped out of his trance and pushed him away.

"Get the hell away from me!" He started to run but the gentleman caught his wrist and pulled him back towards him pressing him against his chest when he gripped on his waist with his free hand.

"Where are you going? I didn't even catch your name! Don't worry; I'll be gentle with you." he said in a seductive tone near his ear. Roxas struggled in the man's clutches as he bit at his neck and then gasped when the man bunched his torn dress from behind and raised it up so the cool air hit his bare legs.

"Aller en enfer!" He shoved his knee between the man's legs and the man let go doubling over in pain so that Roxas ran into the crowd of people getting many dirty looks from those he bumped into. He made it to the center of town where the water fountain was at and sat on its edge catching his breath again. The giggling noble ladies that passed by him made disgusted faces and turned their noses away murmuring to each other what an eye sore he was . Roxas didn't care about any of that right now and just stared at the gray sky hoping to catch a glimpse of the sun or any sign of hope that he still had a reason to keep living.

Living on the streets pick pocketing people wasn't something he wasn't proud of but it was a lot better than selling his body. Zexion had told him to go to him for help but he refused and even Riku offered help but there's no way he'd take Riku's offer. Two weeks had passed and he still hadn't let his emotions out for what had happened that day. He'd had enough of the endless misfortune he'd endured and he finally snapped.

"Emmenez-moi avec vous! Je ne sais pas ou' j'appartiens plus!" he cried, warm tears rolling down his cheeks and past his jaw so they dripped on his dirty dress. His hands gripped on the material and he let out a choked sob .

Maybe things could have turned out different if he had gotten there sooner or if he'd refused to get Eraqus's stupid drink. There could have been a thousand "if's" but they wouldn't change what had already passed.

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><p><em>Roxas rocked on his boots back and forth as he sat crouched on the grass where the orphanages once used to play. The fire had been put out by the quick response of some of the town's people and only small steams of smoke came out from the burned ruins. One by one, the burned bodies of his friends were found and taken to a doctor on the scene whom checked to see if they were still alive. To each one he shook his head and the men that carried the small bodies laid them with the row of deceased children. They were covered with sheets so that their deformed bodies wouldn't be seen by the public eye but Roxas had already seen them. Each one burned into his mind and set a heavier weight on his heart.<em>

"_We found a live one!" someone screamed from the ruins and everyone ran over to help and Roxas quickly got to his feet. He had to push some of the bystanders to reach the men that carried the small body on the wooden stretcher and his breath caught in his chest when he realized it was Charlene they carried._

"_Charlene! Move it damn it!" he said shaking the hands off of him when some of the men tried to pull him away. Charlene could barely open her eyes as she turned her face towards him slowly._

"_Roxas? Is that you?" Her voice was so frail and Roxas felt the tears weld up in the corners of his eyes but didn't shed a single one as he gently got one of her hands between his._

"_Yes! It's me Charlene! You gave me quite the scare!" His voice came out raw from the restrained sobs he actually wanted to let out and forced a smile for her as she looked at him._

"_M-my who-ole body hurts…"She tried to sit up but one of the men gently pressed on her shoulder so that she looked back at him as they set her down on the grass where the doctor could examine her. Women who acted as his nurses at the moment came to her side and cut into her burnt dress with scissors and only peeled off what wasn't stuck on her skin. They quickly set up a tent so that she could have privacy and Roxas moved a bit as they pat her burns with wet towels. Most of her skin was an angry reddish-yellow color and other parts were black with blisters and Roxas coughed a considerable amount as more of her body was exposed. She smelled of rotten flesh and smoke and it seemed like her skin could peel off if you pulled on it. _

"_You have to step outside now. You can come back in after we're done here." One of the nurses told him when she looked at him thoroughly and the others put the burned and bloody clothes in a tray and dipped clean towels in bowls of water. The doctor wrapped a clean gauze bandage on her leg and gave him a look so he reliantly let go of her hand and started to go out but Charlene wailed._

"_Roxas don't go! Don't leave me alone!" Charlene held out a hand to him then noticed how badly burned it was and started to wail even louder. Someone told him to get out and when he didn't budge, some guy from outside the tent dragged him away._

"_La'chez-moi connard!" The guy let go and Roxas shrugged away going back to where he had been sitting a few moments ago and paced around. Minutes went by and nobody came out of the tent so Roxas started to get anxious but then turned his attention to the new body that was pulled out of the ruins. It wasn't one of the children but one of the adults and Roxas could care less about the person since they never really paid them any attention. He did glare when he saw that it was Eraqus and went to stand where the tent was put around him. Most of his hair had burned and only small patches remained on his tan head. Roxas knelt by him so that Eraqus squinted his small grey eyes at him and Roxas stared backed coldly._

"_You don't deserve to live. You should have died in there like the cockroach that you are." he said in a low voice so that only Eraqus could hear him. Eraqus looked at him confused then slowly recognized him._

"_Roxas? What happened? The house suddenly caught on fire." He groaned as nurses pulled on his clothes and gave a nasty remark to one of them. "Where the hell where you at you good for nothing? Thanks to you everything went to waste! Everyone's death is your fault!"_

"_Don't blame this on me! You're always getting drunk and mistreating us! And the adults that worked there deserved to die too because they never turned you in nor stepped in when you would hit the kids!" His voice had risen so that the nurses gave him a harsh look._

"_I hated the lot of you! Good thing all of them died so I don't have to put up with them anymore!" Eraqus said before going into a violent cough. Roxas backed away to let the nurses work on Eraqus as he shook and gave out wheezed pants. When the commotion stopped, the nurses still surrounded him giving each other quick and stern commands but Roxas guessed what had happened. They got quite and Roxas didn't feel anything as they spread a sheet over Eraqus's body once he came into view again._

"_J'espe're que vous bru'lerez en enfer aussi. Mon a'me ne jamais trouver la paix." _

"_Are you one of the orphans?" Roxas turned around and faced a woman that had been with Charlene a few minutes ago. He nodded and passed her heading to Charlene's tent._

"_Are they done with her? Does she need me?" He looked back at the lady when she didn't follow and she shook her head clasping her hands over her chest._

"_The child didn't make it. The burns were too serious and she was too young. I'm sorry."_

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><p>Roxas was soaked wet since it had started pouring down hard and still sat there even after Zexion came and sheltered him from the rain with an umbrella.<p>

Zexion watched Roxas with a disheartened heart look on his face for a while till Roxas finally stood up and followed him back to the book store without being told a word. When they made it inside Roxas stood by the entrance letting the water trickle on the wooden floor and Zexion quickly discarded his umbrella and went upstairs then back downstairs to wrap him in a towel.

"You look horrible Roxas! When was the last time you ate a decent meal? Come on; let's get you in the tub before you get sick." He led Roxas upstairs where he lived and sat Roxas on a chair as he got a large bucket filled with water from the rain and set it above the fire he had going on in the fireplace. He went back to Roxas since Roxas wasn't doing anything to dry himself and ruffled his hair with the towel then kneeled in front of him to take off his boots.

Roxas flinched when he felt his dress pulled up and kicked Zexion so that Zexion let out a small cry and fell back on his elbows. They stared at each other and Roxas looked away moving a hand over his face.

"De'sole'. I've had it rough and I'm still shaken up." Zexion sat up and pat his knee showing he wasn't mad at him. Roxas let him take off his boots again and then got up and let the towel fall to his feet as he reached behind himself and untied the ribbon around his neck. Zexion put his boots by the fire to dry and Roxas untied the ribbon behind his waist and took the apron off so that Zexion took it from him and put it to hang by the fire too. Zexion helped him unbutton the dress from behind and pulled the sleeves down so that Roxas shivering shoulders were exposed. Roxas was wearing a simple white corset underneath though he didn't have too since he didn't have breasts and Roxas blushed as Zexion stared. "Uh, I got used to wearing it…" Roxas undid the many strings on it by himself now that he was embarrassed and Zexion went to go check if the water was ready.

"You should have come with me the first day I asked you to stay with here." Zexion said seeing how Roxas rib cage showed and then turned around when Roxas covered himself up with his arms now that he was bare. "You're not a girl Roxas. Geez, you always nag me not to treat you like one and when I do you go female on me."

"I'm cold! Is it ready yet?" he said getting the towel and wrapping it around his naked body and felt better without the wet clothes. Zexion poured the hot water in the tub and Roxas watched the steam come out and pointed at it. "It's too hot!"

"First it's cold and now it's hot? Make up your mind won't you?" Zexion said smiling but got another bucket with rain water and dumped it in the tub so it wasn't that hot anymore. "Better?" Roxas dipped a few fingers in the water and then nodded. "I'll just wait over here then while you bathe." He collected the pile of clothes and squeezed the water out of them outside the balcony and Roxas got in the tub sighing when the water cloaked his skin. The tub wasn't that big so his knees poked out of the water as he rested his arms over the tube's edge.

"Where you planning on dying out there? Just because the only way of life you ever knew ended doesn't mean it's over. Didn't you say you wanted to get out of this filthy town?" Zexion meet Roxas's stare and Roxas looked down at the water frowning. "Well now's your chance. You can leave the South and go to the North." Roxas stayed quiet for a long time thinking about it then looked back at Zexion with a serious face.

"Zexion." Zexion looked at Roxas from where he was standing by the balcony and Roxas smiled at him.

"Merci pour tout Zexion. Vous e'tes un grand ami." Zexion looked surprised for a moment at the sudden smile but then smiled back.

"Hurry up and finish your bath before the water gets cold."

* * *

><p>In his estate, Riku raised his glass to the other noblemen in his home as they celebrated the completed plans for the building of their fur company. As the president of the company, Riku thanked everyone that would soon support him in his work in one way or the other, and left his guests to go to the parlor.<p>

"Sir, would you like to retire to your room to change into a more comfortable outfit?" One of his butlers said bowing slightly when he stepped out of the dining room. He waved his hand at the butler signaling to him it wasn't necessary and down the long hallway. When he entered the parlor he smiled at Vivi that stood by the large window looking outside as it poured against the window.

"Vivi what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be enjoying yourself at the party?" His smile broke out into a grin as he added, "After all, you helped us find our new location." Vivi twitched but did not turn, only lowered his face so that his hat hid his face in the window's reflection. "With the orphanage out of the way we have a new location to build our company and Roxas will come to me for help. He can't hide in the streets any longer; it's me or death." He loosened the white cravat around his neck and removed his light blue coat so that he was left in his white shirt with ruffles at the ends of his sleeves. Today, he had one of the maids braid his hair and tied at the end with a ribbon that matched his coat and he played with the tip of it as he walked over to Vivi. "We've killed to birds with one stone. If I can't have Roxas then no one can."

"What about Zexion? Roxas could go to him." Vivi said in his small voice and looked back at Riku when he put a hand on his shoulder.

"Zexion doesn't have a lot of money to support them both and Roxas is too stubborn to accept his help. No, he'll come to me." The black mage did a sad sigh and Riku squeezed his shoulder a bit. "Hey, remember who took you in when you lost your family in the war. If it wasn't for me, you would have been dead long ago or in the same situation as Roxas."

"Yes I know. I'm happy you took me in." Riku pat his shoulders and then sat behind his desk looking at the blue prints of the company that was going to be built. Vivi took his yellow eyes off him and walked out regretting he had used his magic to do Riku's wishes.

* * *

><p>The next morning water dripped from the book store's sign as well as everything else in town as Roxas came out in a new dress. He would have worn some of Zexion's clothes but they were too big for him and besides, he was already used to wearing dresses. Zexion had gone early in the morning to buy him the new dress since his previous one was too ruined even when Roxas tried to sew it with some other pieces of cloth.<p>

"I swear I'll pay you back for this. One day I'll repay you back for all the kindness you've shown me." Roxas said swaying his dress from side to side admiring it. It was short sleeved and ruffled at the ends and plenty more ruffles were at the bottom of his dress too. It was a deep red color, white from the ruffles and a large white ribbon was tied around his waist facing a side instead of being in the front of his waist. There was a smaller white ribbon on the front of his chest too but that one was part of the dress. Zexion cleared his throat at him as Roxas kept smiling at the dress and he stopped blushing. "So I'm going to the North then through the forest. When I get to the next town I'll write you a letter and have it sent to you. I'll keep doing that till I'm there."

"Alright but be careful. With you looking like that you could be-" Zexion said handing him a small bag of money and Roxas glared and cut in.

"Hey! I can take care of myself! I would knock the daylights out of the person who tries! And I don't want your money! You already did a lot for me." He pushed the hand offering the money away gently but Zexion pushed it back in his hand.

"As a parting gift then." Roxas stared then slowly broke into a grin.

"Well, if it's a gift, I can't deny it then." Roxas smiled and put the bag away in his pocket and gave Zexion a quick hug before heading to the street and waving back at him. "I'll be okay!" Zexion waved back at him and Roxas left.

He bought flowers from a flower girl and went to the cemetery to say goodbye to his friends laying a flower on each of their graves. He didn't even bother finding Eraqus's tombstone or the adult's. After he had paid his respects he went to the edge of town and found an old man that was about to leave to the next town so he asked for a ride in the back of his hay filled cart. Once they were on their way Roxas laid back on the hay watching the grey sky, which wasn't that much fun, so he ate some bread he had bought before departing.

It was already dark as they passed through the woods and Roxas sat still watching the woods for any pair of eyes watching them. He'd hoped they'd have passed through before night fell but that was out of the question now.

"Ll se sent toujours comme regarder quelqu'un. C'est juste votre imagination joue des tours a' vous yeux." The man said looking back at Roxas chuckling. Roxas half smiled back but he still felt uneasy. They must have been deep in the forest by now and Roxas couldn't see anything except from what the lantern the old man had hit shone on and what little light the moon provided when it came out. Roxas almost screamed when the cart stopped and the man laughed at his nervousness. "Juste aller pisser." Roxas nodded his head and the man went into the forest behind some trees. The horse that pulled the cart poked at the ground and perked up one of its ear's up when it heard something in the forest. Roxas strained to hear for anything and heard some animal shriek in the forest and a loud roar followed soon after it. The horse panicked and reared up on its back feet neighing and Roxas fell back in the hay when the horse took off. The man screamed at them coming back out of the forest and Roxas screamed back for help.

"Stupid horse! You're going to get us lost or killed!" Roxas said sitting up and moving closer to the horse trying to catch the reins while said stupid horse was still running making it almost impossible. He was somehow able to get them but it didn't matter anymore because the horse was attacked by some huge animal so that the cart was knocked to a side and Roxas tumbled out into the woods.

The few beams of moonlight that actually made it past the trees showed the horse twitching on the ground as the bear or whatever it was, crouched by it with its teeth around the horses neck till Roxas heard a sick snap and the horse stopped moving. Roxas stopped breathing where he laid on the ground on his stomach and watched with wide eyes as the creature noticed him and snarled at him so that it's fangs glinted in the light covered in crimson.

"Oh mon Dieu…."

It stepped closer to him just as the moonlight washed over them and Roxas saw that it wasn't a bear, but a monster and it looked ready to kill him too.

* * *

><p>Aller en enferGo to hell

Emmenez-moi avec vous! Je ne sais pas ou' j'appartiens plus/Take me with you! I don't know where I belong anymore

La'chez-moi connard/Let go of me you asshole

J'espe're que vous bru'lerez en enfer aussi. Mon a'me ne jamais trouver la paix/Hope you burn in hell too. May your soul never find peace.

De'sole'/Sorry

Merci pour tout Zexion. Vous e'tes un grand ami/Thank you for everything Zexion. You're a great friend.

Ll se sent toujours comme regarder quelqu'un. C'est juste votre imagination joue des tours a' vous yeux/It's always feels like someone's watching. It's just your imagination playing tricks on your eyes.

Juste aller pisser/Just going to take a piss

Oh mon Dieu/Oh dear God (or Oh My God. Which ever you want.)


End file.
